Idle Hands are the Devil's Workshop

Recently one of my RADlets was ill. This little one had a fever of 103 degrees, was rushed to urgent care and diagnosed with strep throat.....a very sick child indeed. It was a mixed blessing for us as parents. We hate to see any of our children sick and hurting but when they are sick even the RADlets become loving and cuddly---- sitting with us, lying their head on our shoulder and giving us hugs freely. Daddy and I were eating this up:)
Then after about three doses of antibiotics it stopped abruptly. This child who just a day before had been so reluctant to leave our side was now yelling at us and the other children and being down right mean. When I began to ask about the problem I was told that it was due to boredom. As my little one began to feel better but was still restricted to the indoors boredom set in and this was frustrating.
Sorry, but that made no sense to me. When I am bored I may fidget, doodle, rock back and forth, become quite chatty with anyone that is in listening range and I may even just break out in song for no reason other than to entertain myself but I can't think of one time that I was mean to someone just because I was board.
Also this being mean thing.....I am the first to admit that I can be mean myself. But generally I do this when I have a problem with some one. When I'm mad or hurt or feel betrayed.
We tend to take this being mean thing personally but I'm now beginning to understand that for the RADlets that's not always the case. I spoke to one of my older RADlets and asked for an explanation of this strange phenomenon. I was told that it is better to get a lecture from mom on your behavior than be bored. It is also apparently better to plot against a sibling just to see their reaction than to be bored. To them it is better to tear up property (theirs or something that belongs to someone else) than to be bored. Boredom must be one of the worst things in the world to a RADlet.
So, maybe my Granny was right when she said "idle hands are the devils workshop". I guess my job now is to make sure that my little RADlets don't get too bored. Wonder how I can do that?! I'm sure I'll think of something.....after all a house that has ten people living in it always has some spots that need cleaned right:)